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19. Homeward bound

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Diamond Princess arrived back in Yokohama before dawn, all our goodbyes had been said the evening before, and as our flight did not leave Narita until after 10pm we opted to take a disembarkation tour, partly to use up a few hours and more importantly, to see a little bit more of Tokyo. The first of two stops was at the Asakusa shrine, the same place that our friend, Hiromi, had taken us to when we had first arrived in the city. But this time it was different; there was not a rain cloud or an umbrella in sight and the locals were out in force. There were many schoolchildren taking their weekly lesson away from the classroom but more striking were the teenagers. Unlike the US or the UK where the teens hang out at the mall, here, the thing to do is to dress in a yukata (a less formal and less expensive kimono) and promenade with your friends, taking selfies. It really was quite a colourful sight. The second stop was the Meiji shrine which is a Buddhist temple in the middle of a man made ...
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18. Tying up a few loose ends

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We are now on our way back to Yokohama/Tokyo for our flight home, but I thought you, dear reader, might be itching for an update on the mutineers and a few other matters. Unfortunately, we've been unable to find out much first hand information about the mutiny and as always, there are two sides to a story. One witness we spoke to said that a "spokeswoman" for the group was speaking rationally and eloquently while another witness said that one of the bar staff "saw the worst passenger fracas that he had ever seen in 17 years of working for Princess." We definitely know that one couple who were involved are still on board, but Terry, one of our dining companions told us that 10 passengers were put ashore in Hongkong. So, I doubt we will ever find out the truth although, as I mentioned in an earlier post, everyone has been given generous compensation for the disrupted itinerary. We have not paid a visit to the roulette table as it is usually very busy with what see...
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17. Okinawa, Japan

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Back now into Japanese territory but it's a bit difficult to know what to write about Okinawa, especially as we arrived on time at 2pm and didn't get through Japanese immigration and ashore until 4.45pm and dusk was already falling. It left very little time to to anything at all. Ridiculous, but not unexpected although it's difficult to know what Princess can do to speed the process up. Anyway, Okinawa is mainly a resort island. It's like Hawaii is to the Americans or like Corfu is to the British, things are geared up for tourists although there are pockets of tranquility. As I mentioned, we didn't have much time to explore further afield than the centre of Naha, the capital but on the way into town we did come across a little Japanese garden. It was the stereotypical, pretty Japanese garden too, with a lake full of koi and turtles, little temples and pagodas and bridges and perfectly kept topiary. Eventually we reached the main drag, Kokusai Street. This is a mile ...
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Taipei, Taiwan

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For once things went to plan and we arrived in Keelung, the port serving Taipei, on time. Again, it was an interesting sail in passing mile upon mile of dockyards, cranes, ships and warehousing before berthing alongside our sister ship, the Sapphire Princess (cue lots of jokes about getting back onboard the right ship later on.) The drive into Taipei city centre took about half an hour and dropped us off at our first goal, the Taipei 101 Tower. The timing was perfect with no queues and we got straight to the observation deck on the 89th floor quickly. There was some haze and smog, but the views were still good. The building itself is meant to resemble a bamboo stalk and was, at one time, the tallest building in the world at over 1,600 metres - I think it might now be the second tallest, I'll have to check when I get home! Returning down to street level we got the metro across town to the Chaing Kai Chek memorial. This was a nod to my great Uncle Wilf who, family legend has it, had ...
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15. Kaohsiung, Taiwan

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As we departed Hongkong the captain announced that the weather was going to deteriorate a little over the rest of the day and evening and there would be some movement of the ship although it would be nothing worse than we had been through before. But he was wrong. Very wrong indeed.  By dinner time the boat was rocking. Whether or not it is good genes or that I have treacle in my semicircular canals I never seem to be affected by motion sickness so I made it down to dinner but Claire wasn't feeling too good and decided to stay quietly in bed. As the night wore on, it got worse. A depression over the Taiwan Straits deepened unexpectedly and was battering the ship. As the vessel rode every crest and trough of the waves, the water crashed against the hull with a deafening thud and every rivet and steel plate seemed to strain. It was like being in an aeroplane going through turbulence; constantly being bounced up and down and from left to right and sleep was virtually impossible. It wa...
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14. Hongkong and Macau

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After seven days at sea it was a relief to see the Chinese mainland come in to view followed, as it was already late evening, by the bright lights of the Hongkong skyline. We were out on deck as the ship berthed at the terminal which is situated where the old Kai Tak airport used to be and then as nobody was allowed to disembark until morning we retired early because an early start was required next day. Having been in Hongkong only a year ago and seen the major sights, we had decided to spend our day in Macau. So, after breakfast we fought our way through the rush hour traffic and caught a ferry for the hour long journey along the coast to this SAR (Special Administrative Region). I had always thought of Macau as being "the poor man's Hongkong", but it is of similar size and almost as built up. It remained a Portuguese colony until 1999, two years later than Hongkong, at which point it was returned to China and then the dollars and investment really began to roll in. As ...
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13. Mutiny!

At around 6pm last evening the captain spoke on the PA requesting that the group of passengers currently at the guest services desk disperse immediately or they would face serious consequences. A few minutes later, he spoke on the PA again explaining the position in no uncertain terms. It seems that a number of passengers had formed some sort of mob rule pressure group and had crossed a line by being abusive to the guest services staff, complaining that the ports of call were being missed on purpose, that Princess was withholding information, that no alternative port was being considered, that the compensation was inadequate, and were demanding a free cruise and free drinks for the remainder of the current voyage.  The captain stated, quite rightly that this sort of behaviour is not tolerated on an aircraft or in a hotel and is not tolerated on the ship either. He called the group "idiots" and likened them to a "pack of hyenas". He was very curt and very angry indee...
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